GARDEN PROJECT SPROUTS INTEREST

The community garden project at the town-owned Bosco property on Route 81 is off to a bountiful start, with all 24 plots claimed within one week.

Peg Scofield, a resident who organized the project, said Wednesday that all 24 of the 20- by 20-foot plots were taken by Tuesday, one week after registration began on April 1. Residents paid $20 for the privilege of starting their own vegetable garden.

Scofield said plot holders include younger residents, senior citizens, and the local Girl Scout Troop 2019. Residents are sharing two of the plots.

Scofield, who also edits the Killingworth Today community news and information website, secured approval from the board of selectmen last May for the project, which uses about a half-acre of the 133-acre parcel on the east side of Route 81.

A former turkey farm that the town acquired for $640,000 in 2001, it was the subject of two failed bonding proposals for a $5 million community recreation complex in May 2003 and November 2004. The property, which includes a historic farmhouse and outbuildings, has been gated and little used since the plan for a recreation complex was permanently shelved.

Scofield said the property would remain gated, although all registered gardeners will be given the combination to the lock on the gate. Gardeners will be able to use one of the sheds on the property for the storage of supplies and equipment. Scofield said the project's goals include food production, environmental education and the encouragement of multigenerational gatherings.

She said the project has benefited from extensive volunteer efforts and a $10,000 state grant that was secured through the efforts of state Rep. Brian O'Connor, D-Clinton.

The grant funds will be used to purchase a solar-powered pump that will be used to draw water from one of two wells on the parcel, along with a 7-foot-high deer fence that will surround the garden area. It was cleared last fall by local contractor Peter Venuti, and it was rototilled again during the past two weeks.

Scofield said she is pleased, but not really surprised, by the degree of interest and support for the project.

"I'm just so thrilled that so many people have come on board to help, but I had a feeling that people in Killingworth would want to come together as a community," she said.

Scofield said some gardeners may begin planting this weekend. "The gardens are good to go, so now everybody is pretty much on their own," she said.